Games and Grog, once a month

Join us on Wednesday, February 21st at 7pm in Intrepid Labs, in The American Twine Building (222 Third St. Cambridge, MA 02141 4th floor) for our next Boston Post Mortem meeting:

Going from an Outsource Studio to Selling CATs

Ever thought about running a contract game studio? Tricky Fast Studios has been in that business for 6 years, and Mike Handverger is here to talk about what he’s learned in that time. You’ll learn about how to find and keep clients, employees, and subcontractors. Mike will also give some tips on managing spending and cashflow. Finally, he’ll talk about what Tricky Fast did during their latest slow period– make CAT Game Builder. CAT is a new visual scripting tool for Unity that Tricky Fast had been using internally. It is now available on the Unity Asset Store and was named one of the top assets of January 2018. Mike will talk about what went into building it, what its predecessors were, and plans for the future.

About the Speaker:

With 20 years of experience as a software engineer and manager, Mike Handverger has had his hands on many large-scale projects both in and out of the gaming world. As president of Tricky Fast Studios, he’s worked on AAA Mobile Games in big IPs like Star Trek, The Walking Dead, Transformers, and Wheel of Fortune. Prior to Tricky Fast, he was a lead engineer on 38 Studios’ unreleased AAA MMORPG, Kingdoms of Amalur. Outside of gaming, Mike was an early employee at Etsy.com, and during his time there, he led the team to scale the site up to 1 billion monthly page-views.

There are two entrances to the American Twine Building- one is closer to second street around the side of the building, this is the entrance you want! Take elevators up to the 4th floor and that entire floor is Intrepid. After 6pm security will ask you to sign in but no ID is required.

Join us this Wednesday, January 10th, for a very special Boston Post Mortem. We’re delighted to have the Executive Director of the International Game Developer’s Association and IGDA Foundation, Jen MacLean as our January Speaker!

The IGDA and the Future of Game Development:

It’s never been easier to become a game developer, or harder to succeed as one. The IGDA views the changes in the industry as a call to action, and we’re rethinking our mission and how we support game developers in Boston and around the world. Join Jen MacLean, Executive Director of the IGDA and IGDA Foundation, as she outlines the IGDA’s change in focus and benefits and share your thoughts on what game developers need to build sustainable and fulfilling careers.

About the Speaker:

As the Executive Director of the IGDA and IGDA Foundation, Jen MacLean works to empower and support game developers around the world and build a more inclusive game development community. From the start of her career as a playtester at Microprose Software, through senior roles at AOL, Comcast, 38 Studios, and StoryArc Media, Jen has managed game development, strategy, marketing, business development and partnerships across multiple gaming platforms. Jen earned a BA in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University and an MBA with a concentration in international business from the London Business School and Columbia Business School. She was named one of the “Game Industry’s 100 Most Influential Women” by Next Generation, one of the “Top 20 Women in Games” by Gamasutra, and is a frequently-requested speaker at interactive entertainment industry events.

There are two entrances to the American Twine Building- one is closer to second street around the side of the building, this is the entrance you want! Take elevators up to the 4th floor and that entire floor is Intrepid. After 6pm security will ask you to sign in but no ID is required.

December Meeting: Tips for Submitting to the FIG Digital Showcase Join us on Tuesday, December 19th at 7pm in Intrepid Labs, in The American Twine Building (222 Third St. Cambridge, MA 02141 4th floor) for our next Boston Post Mortem meeting: Tips for Submitting to the FIG Digital Showcase Tips for Submitting to the FIG Digital Showcase Do you have a game you’re […]

November Meeting: Neurogaming – I Think Therefore I Can Communicate Join us on Thursday, November 16th at 7pm in Intrepid Labs, in The American Twine Building (222 Third St. Cambridge, MA 02141 4th floor) for our next Boston Post Mortem meeting: Neurogaming – I Think Therefore I Can Communicate Neurogaming – I think Therefore I Can Communicate This month we have a special […]

October Meeting: Waggle Words – Launching the World’s 1st AR Word Game Join us on Wednesday, October 18th at 7pm in Intrepid Labs, in The American Twine Building (222 Third St. Cambridge, MA 02141 4th floor) for our next Boston Post Mortem meeting: Waggle Words – Launching the World’s 1st AR Word Game After three+ years of development, Vermont Digital […]

We are thrilled to work alongside your local game development community meetups on this year’s Summer Potluck! Join us on Sunday, August 6th from 12pm to 4:30pm at Rogers Street Park, located next to The American Twine Building (222 Third St. Cambridge, MA 02141). Continue those stimulating conversations from GameLoop or relax in the sun! Feel free to bring games and […]

Our presentation this month is by Steve Pardo, Audio Lead at Harmonix Music Systems and Christopher Wilson, Co-Founder + Sound Designer at SkewSound on Wednesday the 26th! Rock Band™ VR – Audio Design Post Mortem Rock Band VR (Harmonix Music Systems/Oculus, 2017) broke new ground for the franchise and music gaming in many ways. The game features a state-of-the-art guitar […]

Our presentation this month is by intellectual property attorney, Assaad Lyn: Legal Issues in Gaming: A creator has power and control over his/her project. The project can exist by itself, or it can be one part of a whole. What rights do you have as a creator? What do you own as a creator? What are you really […]

Our presentation this month is by Seth Sivak, CEO of Proletariat Inc. “Streaming and Sharing – Stuff Every Developer Should Know About Live Streaming” Live streaming and content creation has become a new battleground for developers in the fight for players and customers. This talk is focused on why viewers watch live streams and game video […]

Our presentation this month will be presented by Boston Post Mortem board member Renzo G. Heredia: “Field Recording: How To Record Your Own Sound Design” Sound design acts as the art of using audio and sound feedback to tell a story and give an emotion to your player. How do you find these sounds, and […]